The Mash-Up: New year, new beer

With over 170 breweries now pouring their beer in Minnesota, there’s always something new to try. To keep you up to date, we present The Mash-Up—our weekly rundown of new beers and seasonal releases in Minnesota from your favorite local and national breweries. Visit growlermag.com every Friday for the latest or sign up for a weekly email.

The New Year’s Eve parties inspired a lot of new beers this week, from mixed culture ales to barrel-aged behemoths. With 2019 now officially started, breweries are looking ahead. Fulton has a busy year planned, including a Grapefruit Lonely Blonde, seasonal variety packs, and a summer radler.

Looking ahead, Town Hall has unveiled the Showcase of Sippers series, in which the brewery at 7 Corners will pour several base beers that will evolve into the beers showcased during February’s Barrel Aged Week. Five will be on tap each week, building up to the release of the barrel-aged versions.

In other news this week, Mankato celebrates their anniversary with a special beer release on Saturday. Additionally, Hop & Barrel is planning for their first anniversary across the Wisconsin border in Hudson, and Portage has several new beers on tap and more to come next week.

Each week, The Growler’s editorial team highlights five of the most tantalizing new beers hitting taps and store shelves that we’re most excited to try.

Lakeville Winter Rain

“Winter Rain is a Norse Farmhouse ale fermented with a fast and hot fermenting strain of yeast giving it a slightly fruity nose,” the brewery says. “Additions of cinnamon hit the nose and additions of spruce tips leave you dreaming of a white Christmas deep into the (hopefully) harsh depths of the New Year.” 7% ABV.

Town Hall Cherry Grand Cru

Portage Camp Vibes

As Portage explains, this is a hybrid IPA experiment: “Designed with a NEIPA malt bill, West Coast hop bill, and fermented with our house culture of mixed yeast, this IPA…[was] double dry-hopped with Chinook, Idaho 7, Cascade, Citra, and El Dorado hops, for aromatics of pungent pine, pineapple, citrus, and bubble gum.” Available now.

OMNI Double Raspberry Double Vanilla Milkshake IPA

This new Malt Shop series IPA released in the taproom on New Year’s Eve and will be sold in 4-packs of cans soon.

Wild Mind Réveillon

The namesake beer at Wild Mind’s annual New Year’s Eve party, this is a cider ale fermented with ale yeast and refermented on white wine grapes for a lightly sweet body and dry finish, the brewery says.

Holla Day – A new Beyond the Door infusion that adds cinnamon-spiced cranberries and orange to complement the base HeadFlyer honey ale.

Inbound BrewCo

Barrel Aged Wild Rice Porter – Aged for five months in bourbon barrels, this 8.1% ABV, 31 IBU variation of Wild Rice Porter is rich, nutty, and slightly sweet, the brewery says, with notes of bourbon from the barreling process. Available on draft and in limited bottles.

Junkyard Brewing Co.

Cashmere Sky NEIPA w/ Vanilla – Now available in Crowlers.

DDH Green Terrain NEIPA – Now available in Crowlers.

Far Out Stout Black Walnut – Now available in Crowlers.

Proverbial Substance – A dry-hopped sour ale with fruit and brettanomyces. “One of our best mixed culture sours to date,” the brewery says. Available in Crowlers.

La Doña Cervecería

Dark as the Night – A dunkel lager.

Lakeville Brewing Co.

Winter Rain – Top Flight selection.

Lupulin Brewing Company

Hipsterlicious – A New Zealand Pilsner that pours at 5.5% ABV, 35 IBU.

Mankato Brewery

Most Wanted – Mankato will celebrate their anniversary with a release of this barrel-aged imperial stout on Saturday, January 5.

New Belgium Brewing

Brut IPA – A new sparking IPA that’s part of the Up Next Series, this bright and bubbly India pale ale is available for celebrating the New Year.

Northbound Smokehouse & Brewery

Mexican Chocolate Stout – Tapped on Thursday.

OMNI Brewing Co.

Double Raspberry Double Vanilla Milkshake IPA – This new Malt Shop series IPA released in the taproom on New Year’s Eve and will be sold in 4-packs of cans soon.

Portage Brewing Company

Camp Vibes – Top Flight selection.

Double Coffeecake – Available today, January 4, this version of Coffeecake Blonde Ale is brewed with more coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla than its flagship inspiration.

Pryes Brewing

Pryes celebrated the New Year with a series of infusions at the brewery:

Black Cherry Miraculum

Blood Orange Bohemian Blonde

Blueberry Bohemian Blonde

Mango Miraculum

The brewery also released:

Experimental Hazy #3 – A hazy IPA with a new experimental hop that gives this IPA apricot, pineapple, and peach flavors complemented by a pillowy mouthfeel. 7.1% ABV.

Layer Up – Available in the winter Thaw Pack Variety Pack (along with Furious, Xtra-Citra, and 60 Below), this is a hazy German-style ale with fruit-forward flavors.

Weizenbock – “A German winter beer, Weizenbock marries the refreshing character and ester profile of a Weissebier with the malty, brawny punch of a doppelbock,” Surly says.

Town Hall Brewery

Barrel Aged Week won’t come until February, but Town Hall is previewing the lineup in a new way this year with the “Showcase of Sippers,” in which the brewery will serve a taste of the base beers featured in this year’s February lineup. The sipper lineup will change weekly based on demand, but with five on tap at any given time. This week’s menu includes:

Cherry Grand Cru – Top Flight selection.

Eye of the Storm – A base honey ale that becomes Eye Wine Red after aging in a red wine barrel.

Foolish – A Belgian quad that serves as the base for both Foolish Angel and Foolish Red.

Russian Roulette – The imperial stout conditioned on chocolate that becomes Tennessee Dessert. Minus the chocolate, it is also used in Barrel Aged Czar Jack.

Beers just announced

Bad Weather shared their canning plans for the year ahead. In addition to year round releases Hopcromancer and Windvane, plus some new secretive beers in the works, here is what they’ll be sending to area liquor stores:

Helles – Available in June.

Immortal Toast – Available in November 2019.

Ominous – Available in October 2019.

Passion Fruit Anomaly – Back in May.

Sun Pillar – Returning in April.

Tippin’ It Down – Returns in August.

Fulton Brewing

Fulton’s 2019 schedule was unveiled recently. Coming this year:

Barrel Aged Fika – Set for a March debut.

Bourbon Barrel Brown – Coming in November.

Brut IPA – Available in cans at the end of the new year.

Brut Radler – A summer beer.

Coffee Doppelbock – Due in March.

Coffee Mixed Pack – Coming in March.

Fall Mixed Pack – Coming in November.

Grapefruit Lonely Blonde Ale – Lonely Blonde gets extra grapefruit for an added dose of citrus. “Like the classic version, it’s smooth, easy-drinking, and nearly perfect for any occasion,” the brewery says. Set for an April release.

Proper Porter – To be available October through March.

Specter – Back in September.

Spring Mixed Pack – Coming this April.

Hop & Barrel Brewing Company

Brute IPA – Hudson’s Hop & Barrel will release this new beer at their one-year anniversary party on January 12.

Lupulin Brewing

Dunkel – “On the horizon,” according to a recent brewery newsletter.

Fjord Stomper – An upcoming 8.75% ABV, 70 IBU double IPA.

S’more – As the name suggests, this upcoming release was made with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate, and marshmallow.

Sophistry – A new series of IPAs are “on the horizon,” according to a recent brewery newsletter.

Sycophant – An American Strong ale currently in development.

Portage Brewing Company

Cloudrest Mixed Fermentation DIPA – This complex DIPA uses a variety of hops, a Norwegian Kveik strain, and Brettanomyces cultures, and a variety of hops, including Mosaic, Citra, and El Dorado. Available on January 11, along with Coffeecake Blonde Ale and Resilience Butte County Proud IPA.

Coffeecake Blonde Ale – Back on January 11, along with new batches of Cloudrest Mixed Fermentation DIPA and Resilience IPA.

Revelation Ale Works

Peanut Butter Stout – Currently in development, according to a recent Facebook post.

Surly Brewing Company

Pecan Pie Darkness – A new taproom exclusive infusion to be tapped on January 9.

Tin Whiskers Brewing Company

Elemental Cream Ale – This new Spark Series release hits the taproom and liquor stores next week.

Waconia Brewing Company

Espresso Porter – Coming to the taproom on Thursday, January 10.

Curious about recent releases? Peruse our Mash-Up archives. Did we miss a beer release or announcement? Email us at newbeer@growlermag.com to let us know about new beers from this week and beyond. Or let us know what new beer you’re enjoying by using #TheMashUp on Twitter and Instagram.